MVP – Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant dominated all year long and carried his team through stretches without their second-best player, Russell Westbrook. He led the Thunder to the second-best overall record in the NBA and improved his game in a lot of areas – most notably on defense. His development and improvement on his game this season has led to him having the best regular season of his career. He averaged 31.9 points per game, 7.4 rebounds per game, and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field, and 39.3 percent from three-point range.
Defensive Player of the Year – Joakim Noah
Want to know how good Noah was defensively this season? Just think about this – he only averaged 12.6 points per game on only 47 percent shooting and is considered to be an MVP candidate by some, simply because of how dominant he has been defensively. Noah does it all on defense, and his non-stop effort and tenacity help lead the Bulls to being the top defensive team in 2014. On the year, the Bulls held teams to a league best 91.6 points per game and 42.9 percent shooting from the field – good for second-best overall, and Noah was the driving force behind their success.
Most Improved Player – Goran Dragic
The Suns were one of the worst teams in the NBA last season and were projected by most analyst to be at the bottom of the standings again. However, thanks to the drastic improvement in Dragic’s game, the Suns were in the playoff hunt all year long and fell just short finishing No. 9 in the loaded Western Conference. He averaged a career high 20.4 points per game and shot a career high 50.5 percent from the field. His previous career high was last season at just 14.7 points per game.
Sixth Man of the Year – Jamal Crawford
This was a really tough award to pick. Manu Ginobili and Taj Gibson were both equally worthy, but at the end of the day Crawford lead all non-starters in points per game with 18.6, and his play was huge in keeping the Clippers afloat while Chris Paul was out with injury.
Coach of the Year – Jeff Hornacek
I know Phoenix fell just short of making the playoffs, but considering the fact that this team still won 48 games and their second-best player Eric Bledsoe missed half the year, I’ve got nothing but the utmost respect for what Hornacek was able to pull off with a team that every NBA expert predicted to be one of the worst teams at the beginning of the year. He completely maximizes the talent and abilities of the players he had and greatly overachieved. You could make a case for guys like Steve Clifford or Tom Thibodeau, but if you ask me, nobody did more with less than Hornacek.
Rookie of the Year – Michael Carter-Williams
The Rookie of the Year race was not even close to me. Williams came out of the gate hot and was clearly the most impactful rookie all season. He averaged 16.7 points per game, 6.3 assists per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, and 1.9 steals per game – showing that he could impact the game in a multitude of ways.
All NBA First Team
G. Chris Paul
G. Stephen Curry
F. Kevin Durant
F. Lebron James
C. Al Jefferson
All NBA 2nd Team
G. Tony Parker
G. James Harden
F. Carmelo Anthony
F. Blake Griffin
C. Tim Duncan
All NBA Third Team
G. John Wall
G. Goran Dragic
F. Paul George
F. Kevin Love
C. Joakim Noah
All Defensive First Team
G. Patrick Beverly
G. Jimmy Butler
F. Paul George
F. Anthony Davis
C. Joakim Noah
All Defensive Second Team
G. Ricky Rubio
G. Andre Igoudala
F. Kawhi Leonard
F. Serge Ibaka (Tie)
F. Tim Duncan (Tie)
C. Roy Hibbert
All Rookie First Team
G. Michael Carter-Williams
G. Victor Oladipo
F. Tim Hardaway Jr.
F. Kelly Olynyk
C. Mason Plumlee
All Rookie Second Team
G. Trey Burke
G. Giannis Antetokounmpo
F. Gorgui Dieng
F. Pero Antic
C. Stevan Adams
